wins the sincerest esteem and affection. She is
not a person to be judged by her writings alone, but rather by her own
deeds and life, than which nothing can be more exemplary or noble.'

The division which Miss Bronte thus makes between opinions and
character, and again between literary production and character, is at
the root of any just criticism of the two volumes of autobiography which
have just been given to the public. Of the third volume, _The
Memorials_, by Mrs. Chapman, it is impossible to say anything serious.
Mrs. Chapman fought an admirable fight in the dark times of American
history for the abolition of slavery, but unhappily she is without
literary gifts; and this third volume is one more illustration of the
folly of entrusting the composition of biography to persons who have
only the wholly irrelevant claim of intimate friendship, or kinship, or
sympathy in public causes. The qualification for a biographer is not in
the least that he is a virtuous person, or a second cousin, or a dear
friend, or a trusty colleague; but that he knows how to write a book,
has tact, style, taste, considerateness, sense of proportion, and a good
eye for the beginnings and ends of things. The third volume, then, tells
us little about the person to whom they relate. The two volumes of
autobiography tell all that we can seek to know, and the reader who
judges them in an equitable spirit will be ready to allow that, when all
is said that can be said of her hardness, arbitrariness, and insularity,
Harriet Martineau is still a singular and worthy figure among the
conspicuous personages of a generation that has now almost vanished.
Some will wonder how it was that her literary performances acquired so
little of permanent value. Others will be pained by the distinct
repudiation of all theology, avowed by her with a simple and courageous
directness that can scarcely be counted other than honourable to her.
But everybody will admit, as Charlotte Bronte did, that though her books
are not of the first nor of the second rank, and though her
anti-theological opinions are to many so repugnant, yet behind books and
opinions was a remarkable personality, a sure eye for social realities,
a moral courage that never flinched; a strong judgment within its
limits; a vigorous self-reliance both in opinion and act, which yet did
not prevent a habit of the most neutral self-judgment; the commonplace
virtues of industry and energy devoted to aims too